Cardinal 'on tightrope over Divorce Bill'

Cardinal Basil Hume, leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England, is to support opponents of the Lord Chancellor's controversial Divorce Bill by suggesting that a year is too short a time to wait before dissolving a marriage and that counselling is an essential element that should be included.

His intervention - in an article in the Catholic weekly the Tablet - comes midway through debate in the House of Lords, and will be a blow to the Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, who believed that the Catholic bishops were on his side. The Bill would end "quickie" divorces; end the concept of fault; and introduce mediation where possible to replace lawyers.

The article is said to be an attempt to accommodate critics without threatening the essence of the Bill. A Catholic source described it as "walking a tightrope".